The salesman handed Lois Lane the keys to her new Toyota Yaris. She took them and sighed a long, resigned sigh. She felt a headache coming on strong and needed to find her cigarettes. Rifling through her over-stuffed purse for a smoke and a lighter, she snapped at Jimmy.

“Put the camera equipment in the back seat, Jimmy.”

Jimmy looked reluctantly at the tiny space in the new car and then over to where the massive mound of equipment was piled.

“Ms. Lane, I don’t think…” he stammered.

“Make it fit. And leave me some space for my purse,” Lois directed. Jimmy flipped up the passenger seat and started to load the camera equipment in to the cramped back seat.

Lois looked back again at her gigantic, black SUV. She loved the darkly-tinted windows and the intimidating grill. As a petite woman, what thrilled her most of all was riding up higher than most of the other cars on the road.

“You know, Ms. Lane," the salesman interjected, “we no longer accept SUV trade-ins from anybody. We made a special exception for you.”

Lois rolled her eyes behind her Gucci sunglasses but flashed the salesman a dazzling smile.

“Thank you, er, Ronald. I appreciate it.” Lois turned back to watch Jimmy finish loading. She sighed again when she noticed that the Yaris appeared to have sunk lower to the ground from all of the extra weight. Lois flicked her cigarette and ground it out with her very expensive high-heeled shoe. She nodded to Jimmy to get in the car.

“OW!” cried Jimmy, hitting his head on the side of the Yaris while getting in.

“Get used to it, Jimmy. We have just down-sized ourselves right out of personal space. This completely sucks,” muttered Lois.

Ronald hesitantly extended his business card to Lois.

“If you have any questions, or need anything at all, Ms. Lane, do call me,” Ronald suggested.

Lois shoved her purse behind the driver’s seat and descended in to the Yaris.

“Thank you, Ronald,” she said dryly. She started the tiny car which seemed to barely sputter to life. It was definitely not like her SUV which roared when the engine turned over.

“Ms. Lane, did you check to make sure you got all of your belongings out of your trade-in?” Ronald asked.

“You mean my SUV? Yes, I checked,” retorted Lois. She jammed the gear in to drive and did her best to peel out of the parking lot. Jimmy’s head whipped back and then forward with the lurching of the car. He knew better than to say anything to Ms. Lane when she was in such a mood.

“Are we heading back to the Daily Planet?” Jimmy asked after awhile. Lois nodded.

“I need to turn in the receipt for this…car… before I meet Clark for dinner.” She glanced at her watch and realized that she was late to meet Clark, again.

Lois cursed under her breath and manually rolled down the window. Her black, silky hair began to whip at her sunglasses. Jimmy gripped the dashboard as Lois carelessly maneuvered the car through bad traffic. She screeched to a halt in front of the Daily Planet and tossed the receipt to Jimmy.

“Here, give this to Accounting so I get my enviro-credits. I'll see you Monday."

Jimmy barely cleared the Yaris before Lois was back in traffic. She lit a new cigarette in her new car, not caring that Clark would complain of the smell later.

She finally pulled in to the parking lot of Sweet Tomatoes, Clark's favorite restaurant. She stubbed out the now old cigarette in her new ashtray and glanced at herself in the tiny rear view mirror. Rooting through her purse again, she found her breath freshener and liberally sprayed it into her mouth.

Lois sidled out of the Yaris and stepped up to the entryway where Clark was waiting and smiling. He held out his arm for her to take.

"I don't need your help today, Clark, I can manage to climb the stairs," she quipped.

Clark knew better than to say anything to Lois when she was in such a mood.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE DEALERSHIP...

"Hey, Ronald, that lady forgot something!" yelled Bruce, the parking lot attendant who was cleaning out and washing the SUV.

Ronald rushed over, anxious at the thought that this was the perfect excuse he needed to call Lois Lane.

"Give it to me and I'll call her," smiled Ronald.

Bruce handed over a balled-up pair of extra large blue tights.

"Tell her I found them in the glove compartment. People always forget to check in there!" yelled Bruce over the sound of the vacuum.

END

This is part #1 of my fan fiction series called The Superhero Chronicles which puts comic book characters or superheroes in everyday real-life situations (kind of...). Part #2 is coming soon (hint: It's about Aquaman!) Check out the CW pilot trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvmB8uCSRMQ

Please visit my recent posts at:
http://www.xomba.com/user/mia_northwest
Thanks!